~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jim opened the next drawer. He immediately closed it again. "Woah!" He opened the window, fanning his hand in front of his face. Pam looked at him strangely, from where she was sitting on the floo.

"What's wrong with you?" She shuffled over to where Jim was but soon retreated, coughing. "I see you found the mung beans." There were no words to express the look on her face. She got up off the floor. "I'm going to get a trash bag and some Febreze."

"Sure thing, Pam." Jim couldn't help but let his eyes follow her until she was fully in the kitchen. He smiled. She can be so adorable.

"Nice, Big Tuna." Jim totally forgot that Andy was right in front of him. He looked at him. "Seriously, dude, if you weren't with Karen, I would have definitely put you and Pam together." Andy nodded and smiled.

Jim could only nod and smile back. If he only knew, he thought to himself.

Andy couldn't help by notice the hint of sadness in Jim's eyes.

Jim realized he was probably being transparent and quickly turned to look out the window. He wished that he could change so many things. He would have done them differently. Especially when it came to Pam.

"What are you thinking, Jim?"

"That I never transferred to Stamford," he responded without thinking. He soon realized who was talking to him. And it wasn't Andy. Oh, God.

Pam had exited from the kitchen with a plastic bag and some Febreze. However, before she got back to the desk, Andy intercepted her and urgently moved her in the other direction. "Andy, what are--?"

"You don't want to head that way, Pam. Trust me." He led her back around to the couch near at reception, and sat her down. From where she was sitting, she couldn't see what was going on, but her instincts told her to look over at Karen's desk. It was empty. With Andy pulling her aside so quickly, she knew something was up. 

"Andy?  What’s going on?"

"I didn't want you in the ring of fire, my lady." He put his hands on his hips and smiled warmly at Pam. 

She smiled back, still confused. Did Jim tell him anything? What was going on with Jim and Karen?  She searched Andy’s face, looking for clues, but her attention on him faded when she saw Angela come through the door.

Angela had been on a walk. To where, she didn't know. She just needed to walk. To get some fresh air. To just get out of the office. This isn't how this was supposed to go. As soon as she got back into the office, she saw Pam sitting on the couch near the door. Pam was the only person in the office that she believed she could confide in right now.

"Angela?" Pam stood up and handed the trash bag and Febreze to Andy. She glanced over at Andy and gave him a look, who, amazingly, seemed to understand and left.

Angela walked up to Pam and sighed. She had been crying for the entire walk, so her eyes were still red. She stood there, looking at Pam and then back down at her hands. She felt a knot in her stomach. She felt her whole world was collapsing on her. Everything was changing. She was entering a realm that she knew nothing about.

"Angela." His voice broke in suddenly, like knives piercing her body. She couldn't deal with him right now. She needed to vent.  To Pam.  Not him. Without acknowledging him, she grabbed Pam's hand and headed towards the door.

Why was she doing this?  Dwight stood there. His frustration was building up inside him. "Angela!" he called out.  Everyone was staring, but it didn't matter. Right now, it was just about him and her.

"Dwight..." she whispered to herself.  She whipped around, still holding Pam's hand.  At first, she couldn't look at him, but she knew she had to.  Their eyes met.  Emotions like confusion, frustration, sadness, all spilled out of her.  She felt tears welling up in her eyes again.  After a few silent moments, she was able to muster, "I'm sorry, Dwight." She then headed quickly out the door with Pam still attached. She couldn't let him see her cry. That would hurt him even more.

Dwight stood there, not knowing what to do. Her e-mail ran through his brain:

My Dearest Dwight, over the past couple of days, I've been thinking. I've reconsidered everything, everything about us. We're not meant to be. I don't think we ever were. I'm sorry if I might have led you on. I hope we can continue our professional relationship. Cordially yours, Angela 

And with that, it was over. Yesterday, they had been on the morbid conversation of gravesite weddings. It would be quiet, and peaceful, and there would only be a handful of people attending. He had said that his family traditionally held the weddings in their graves. She had said that she would prefer a church. He had looked down at her and said that family traditions could be altered sometimes. His family and their traditions meant a lot to him, so the fact that he was willing to do something against those. For her... She knew it had meant something. Which is why her e-mail had stung him so bad. He loved her. They had been together for almost two years. However, he had never actually told her that he loved her. Because that would have been silly and crass, right?  On the other hand, if I had, then she might not have ended this. I'm such an idiot.

Michael had stepped out of his office when he heard Dwight yelling, but he didn't move from his spot in front of the doorway. He noticed that Dwight seemed visibly shaken and he didn't know why. Everyone else in the office seemed to  notice it, too.

Jim was still going through Creed’s old desk while Karen continued to berate him. He was doing everything to drown her out. He had just pulled out a simple leather book when Dwight’s yelling had caught his attention. Jim knew he had to find out what was going on. .  Jim left the book on the desk and walked away.  Karen breathed in deeply, uncrossing her arms.  “Don't think this conversation is over yet,” she called out to him as she watched he and Michael bring Dwight into Michael's office.

After a few more moments, the office was back to the way it was.

"What is that?"

Karen looked at Andy and what he was pointing at: the leather book. She picked it up and opened it. Andy came behind her and glanced over her shoulder. They were both shocked at the title page:

The Secrets of My Co-Workers They Thought No One Else Knew

Not missing a beat, Karen immediately started flipping through, looking for Jim's entry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~